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Review of Recent News and Commentary
Ashbrook E-Mail Update
September 5, 2002
by
Peter W. Schramm
Reparations
This is a good, albeit lengthy article, by Allen C. Guelzo on reparations and the complications with it, both moral and legal. You should not be surprised that he ends with Lincoln. File it away. Good and useful.
Media
Apparently Time magazine is reporting in this week’s issue that Secretary of State Colin Powell will not stay on for Bush’s second term (if he has one) unless there is a major diplomatic breakthrough in the offing. The press is relentless in its efforts to divide this administration from the inside. That there are disagreements within the administration even about some major issues goes without saying; I hope there are many conversations and a few disagreements; that is the way it should be. But this artificial creation, and emphasis by the press, is unworthy of serious journalism. It is still not working.
And Washington is buzzing over the BBC’s interview of Colin Powell that is supposed to show disarray within the administration. If read carefully, at least the segments that are reported, it shows no such thing. It is interesting how Scowcroft, Eagleberger, Jim Baker, and others from the first Bush administration are coming down hard on George W.
This is just further proof that this is their last minute attempt to salvage their own reputations and failed policies. It is not working. Dubya is his own man and he will not make his father’s mistake. This is another example of why this administration is closer to Reagan’s than to the first Bush’s.
A new poll from the Los Angeles Times shows that a majority of the people (59%) think that the U.S. should take military action against Iraq (only 29% opposed), and 64% would support a ground attack if Bush so chose. These are tough figures for Bush’s opponents to get around. He has won the argument already, yet he will have more to say.
This is an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about protests against the paper’s anti-Israel coverage. And this from The Weekly Standard explains how the Washington Post buried a major story about Iran hiding some al Qaeda members.
And you must have heard about this absurd attempt to make a reality-TV program based on the old Beverly Hillbillies. This shows how low the networks have fallen.
Then there is the issue of whether there is such a thing as right wing envy from the left. Just compare Nation with The Weekly Standard. One is smart and lively and optimistic, and the other just is plain boring. And here is another on the same issue.
This article considers why the Left is not able to come to grips with the evil that was Stalin.
How about this extraordinary article from the Los Angeles Times (free registration required): It claims that "there are iniquities in pedestrian deaths." That is, while blacks and Hispanics make up only 55% of the county’s population, they represent 59% of the victims of fatal pedestrian accidents. Somebody call the race-baiters (Jackson and Sharpton), they ought to get on this immediately. Racism in accidents, who would have thought?
And Andrew Sullivan explains why the New York Times is a national joke.
Middle East and War with Iraq
The media is full of talk about the coming war on Iraq. When will there be a war, how long will it take to prepare for a war on Iraq, and so on. This very good and detailed article from the Asia Times (and also see this from a month ago) reminds us of a few things, and I’m adding a few others.
- We have not been sitting around for ten years, since the Gulf War, doing nothing. It took us months to prepare for that war; it will take only a few weeks to launch the next one. We have been preparing for another war against Iraq for ten years.
- We have spent a good deal of time and money pre-positioning equipment in places like Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Diego Garcia (never mind places like Turkey), and we have access to equipment that isn’t technically ours.
- We will only need about three divisions worth of troops (circa 50,000) compared to nine in the Gulf War. These will not be simply three mechanized divisions. They will be more complex and will include indigenous forces.
- Notice the number of attacks over the Iraqi no-fly zones, both North and South, and how they have been increasing.
- We have been re-deploying special forces with experience in Afghanistan.
- The 200,000 troops that were claimed we needed a few months ago was disinformation on our part.
- Israel is ready for war against Iraq. This time Israel will not allow 42 Scuds to land.
- Besides, the Iraqis will not fight well. They are untrained and undisciplined (and they hate their leader).
- And here is a quick argument against going to the UN for approval of our plans.
The new war against Iraq will be a very complex effort, and if it works, our enemies (not only the Iraqis) will be deeply moved by it. Movement will be toward us, not against us. It will have the same result as in Afghanistan. Arguably, the war has already started, but the visible parts will not be seen until mid-November.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that many al Qaeda, numbering in the hundreds, have taken up refuge in Lebanon (with Syria’s permission). There are a number of high-level al Qaeda leaders among them.
This is an interesting op-ed from the LA Times (registration required) that explains "influence net" modeling and the use of a software program called CAESAR to try to find out how people behave under certain conditions and to discover who makes up the true inner circle of Saddam’s advisors. It is complicated (and as with all such "scientific" attempts to understand—and predict—human behavior is by definition imperfect) but worth mentioning. All this depends on intelligence collection and then human judgment, of course. But it does allow you to organize what facts you can obtain and to look at it systematically. Apparently Rumsfeld likes it.
Norman Podhoretz very clearly lays out what the Bush Doctrine is, and he approves. The four pillars on which it stands are: it rejects moral relativism, holds states responsible for the terrorists they sponsor, asserts the right of the US to pre-emptive strikes, and the assimilation of Israel’s fight against terrorism into our own.
You might also want to refresh your mind on what Bush is up to, and what the Bush Doctrine is, by re-reading his great speeches after 9/11: Speech at the National Cathedral, September 14, 2001;
Address to the joint session of Congress, September 20, 2001;
State of the Union Address, January 29, 2002;
Speech to the graduating class at West Point, June 1, 2002;
Remarks on the Middle East, June 24, 2002.
Hanson on why the Saudis are the enemy. Then see these translations of the Saudi reactions to the lawsuit filed by 9/11 families. It is revealing.
Tom Sowell on going to war and facing realities.
And it turns out that the U.S. is moving toward Nigerian oil, away from Arabia.
It is a serious question: Will Iraq fight?
This is interesting on urban warfare (free registration required).
And this is on why the Afghan adventure was useful to try out some new weapons. They are by and large working.
George Will argues (James Baker, et al, from the First Bush administration to the contrary notwithstanding) that we already have a casus belli to attack Iraq, and also suggests Bush get Congress to OK it. And this is an interesting article on one of Rumsfeld’s chief advisors, Steve Cambone.
September 11
Krauthammer argues we haven’t changed since 9/11, after all, while Andrew Sullivan argues that we have changed. Both are worth reading.
Mark Steyn doesn’t want us to "Dianafy" September 11.
This is a detailed article from the Los Angeles Times explaining how the 9/11 plot was hatched. (Free registration required)
An article in the New York Times considers the criticism over the NEA proposals on how to teach 9/11. Note that the NEA spokesman is quoted implying strongly that anyone disagreeing with their policy is a bigot. (Free registration required) This is tiresome diversity preaching from our teachers union. Is this not a shame? John Leo also beats up on the NEA suggestions. In the meantime, Checker Finn’s outfit has come up with a nice guide about 9/11. Have a look. It is called "September 11: What Our Children Need to Know."
Politics
We’ll talk more politics starting next week (when most of the primaries will be done with) but I thought I would just mention two things: First, all reports indicate that the economy has eclipsed terrorism as a major concern. Even GOP folks seem to be admitting this (see the Stephen Moore quote in the middle of the article). I do think that this is the case and/or the economy will come back just enough by election time. It is certainly not the case that the Republicans will lose the House. I will say more on this in the next several weeks. Second, according to two major polls Janet Reno is now in a dead heat with Bill McBride in the Democratic primary for governor of Florida. She was almost twenty points ahead in the beginning of the summer. The primary is on September 10. And there is one more thing. Andrew Cuomo has dropped out of the New York Democratic primary for governor one week before the primary. The short of it is that the Clinton’s now are running the Democratic Party in NY. And this after the guy served Clinton for eight years. This is how these guys treat their friends. This also means that Pataki will certainly win again.
Odds and Ends
Here is an interesting profile on Victor Davis Hanson, teaching this year at the Naval Academy.
The brain picks up language early, much earlier than we thought.
The U.S. fired first at Pearl Harbor. A Japanese submarine has been found.
The family is in much better shape than most of us think.
A 102-year-old man, (free registration required) in a hurry to get to a bridge game, drove on the other side of the road (to avoid the traffic) and got a $170 ticket. He took that like a man, but will not give up his driver’s license. How will he get to his bridge game? And then there is the 8-year-old who stole a truck and drove 20 miles (going up to 80 mph) to visit his family because he missed them. I think both these guys ought to be in the Marine Corps. We need men (boys) like these!
And here is George Will looking at the stars in Hawaii. Good writing.
The US Navy is now flying the "Don’t Tread on Me" rattlesnake flag on all its vessels. Very good. I like it.
Past Editions:
August 29, 2002 |
August 22, 2002 |
August 15, 2002 |
August 8, 2002 |
August 1, 2002 |
July 25, 2002 |
July 18, 2002 |
July 11, 2002 |
July 3, 2002 |
June 27, 2002 |
June 20, 2002 |
June 13, 2002 |
June 6, 2002 |
May 30, 2002 |
May 23, 2002 |
May 9, 2002 |
May 2, 2002 |
April 25, 2002
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